FBI's History of Handing "Terror Suspects" Live Explosives

April 16, 2013 (LD) - In late September 2011, AFP reported that a man was charged with "planning to fly explosive-packed, remote controlled airplanes into the Pentagon and the Capitol in Washington." In its report, "US man charged with Pentagon bomb plot," AFP stated (emphasis added):

During the alleged plot, undercover FBI agents posed as accomplices
who supplied Ferdaus with one remote-controlled plane, C4 explosives,
and small arms that he allegedly envisioned using in a simultaneous
ground assault in Washington.

However, ''the public was never in
danger from the explosive devices, which were controlled by undercover
FBI employees,'' the FBI said.

Ferdaus was arrested in Framingham, near Boston, immediately after
putting the newly delivered weapons into a storage container, the FBI
said.

Authorities described Ferdaus as a physics graduate from
Northeastern University who followed al-Qaeda and was committed to
''violent jihad'' since early last year.

In November 2010, a similar "plot" was engineered, then "disrupted," also by the FBI - this time in Portland, Oregon. The so-called "Christmas Tree Bomber" attempted to remote detonate a van he believed was filled with explosives, provided by the FBI, before being arrested during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony at Pioneer Courthhouse Square. The FBI's official statement regarding the incident revealed that FBI agents had handled, even detonated live explosives with the entrapped suspect at Lincoln County Park in the lead up to the final failed bombing.

According to the affidavit, on November 4, 2010, Mohamud and the
undercover FBI operatives traveled to a remote location in Lincoln
County, Ore., where they detonated a bomb concealed in a backpack as a
trial run for the upcoming attack. Afterwards, on the drive back to
Corvallis, undercover FBI operatives questioned Mohamud as to whether
he was capable of looking at the bodies of those who would be killed in
the upcoming attack in Portland. According to the affidavit, Mohamud
responded, “I want whoever is attending that event to leave, to leave
either dead or injured.”

Upon returning to Corvallis that same
day, the affidavit alleges that Mohamud recorded a video of himself
with the undercover FBI operatives in which he read a written statement
that offered a rationale for his bomb attack. On Nov. 18, 2010,
undercover FBI operatives picked up Mohamud to travel to Portland in
order to finalize the details of the attack.

Earlier this
evening, Mohamud was arrested after he attempted to remotely detonate
what he believed to be explosives in a van that was parked near the
Christmas tree lighting ceremony in Portland, the affidavit alleges.

Yet another similar operation was carried out by the FBI in February 2012, where yet another otherwise incapable patsy was provided with live explosives in the lead up to what was ultimately a failed suicide bombing at the US Capitol. USA Today reported in their article, "FBI foils alleged suicide bomb attack on U.S. Capitol," that (emphasis added):

According to a counterterrorism official, El Khalifi "expressed interest
in killing at least 30 people and considered targeting a building in
Alexandria and a restaurant, synagogue and a place where military
personnel gather in Washington before he settled on the Capitol after
canvassing that area a couple of times," the Associated Press writes.
During the year-long investigation, El Khalifi detonated explosives at a
quarry in the capital region with undercover operatives. He is not
believed to be affiliated with al-Qaeda, officials said.

The frightening trend of the FBI cultivating otherwise incapable "terror" suspects, providing them with and detonating real explosives, before giving them inert or controlled devices to carry out attacks on public targets where mass casualties are averted only at the last possible moment, sets the stage for at the very least, incredible potential for catastrophic blunders, and at worst, false flag attacks.

Has the FBI ever presided over "sting operations" that were actually carried out? The answer is yes. The FBI in fact was presiding over the terrorists who carried out the 1993 World Trade Center bombing. The role of the FBI leading up to the deadly attack would most likely have gone unreported had an FBI informant not taped his conversations with FBI agents after growing suspicious during the uncover operation. The New York Times in their article, "Tapes Depict Proposal to Thwart Bomb Used in Trade Center Blast," reported:

Law-enforcement officials were told that terrorists were building a
bomb that was eventually used to blow up the World Trade Center, and
they planned to thwart the plotters by secretly substituting harmless
powder for the explosives, an informer said after the blast.

The
informer was to have helped the plotters build the bomb and supply the
fake powder, but the plan was called off by an F.B.I. supervisor who had
other ideas about how the informer, Emad A. Salem, should be used, the
informer said.

The account, which is given in the transcript of
hundreds of hours of tape recordings Mr. Salem secretly made of his
talks with law-enforcement agents, portrays the authorities as in a far
better position than previously known to foil the Feb. 26 bombing of New
York City's tallest towers. The explosion left six people dead, more
than 1,000 injured and damages in excess of half a billion dollars.

What takes shape is an FBI at the center of perpetuating America's terror menace, not at the forefront of fighting it. With every attack foiled or carried out involving FBI uncover operatives revealed only after successful "stings" or in the case of the World Trade Center bombings, an inconvenient witness stepping forward and revealing the FBI's role, the first and foremost suspect considered after any bombing on US soil should be the FBI itself.

Recent explosions at the Boston Marathon have left two dead and many more injured. While the public waits to find out who will be blamed, and the role, if any the FBI played in the lead up to the explosions, it would be best to keep in mind the insidious and/or incompetent role the FBI has played during similar events, some of which have occurred recently and in close proximity to the latest explosions.